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• June 27, 2008
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From Debonair to Vagabond: Milan Men's Fashion Week Roundup

By Jason Wilson

The threat of global warming has finally infiltrated the fashion industry (though plight of the American dollar clearly has not). Kicking off the spring/summer 2009 fashion show season, menswear designers showed collections at Milan, which oscillated between whimsy, formality, Adonis bodies, and lots of skin (it's about time considering the 90 degree norms these days). Suits were cut for the debonair and silhouettes ranged from slouchy to snug, but never settled on any extreme. Remarkably, the models were about ten pounds heavier than the underfed waifs that breezed these runways just a season ago. Trousers are once again acceptable, in any variation besides skinny, and pajamas are the new track suit (only if expertly tailored and paired with chest-broadening jackets—of course). It used to be that waistlines and neck measurements shrunk in times of economic woe. Perhaps the threat of impending global devastation has prompted designers to tailor extra room for bulletproof vests or food rations. Whatever the case, here's a selection of what you might and might not want to be caught dead in in the event of a climatic catastrophe, or while waiting in line for to pay $80 for a pound of rice.

Textured Suits: The suit gets a new skin with these textured and tactile fabrications. Who needs houndstooth when you've got a graphic designer?

Left to right: Calvin Klein, Burberry, Alexander McQueen, Moschino.

Color Block: Black is the new wack (or it could be that its just too darn hot to wear too much of in the summer). Thankfully, the runways were filled with a wide range of monotone and color-block offerings. Piet Mondrian would be proud.

Left to right: Calvin Klein, Jil Sander, Gucci, Jil Sander.

PJs: These looks prove you don't have to look like a box to be sharp. For spring, luxurious fabrics mix with uninhibited silhouettes to create an optimal vision of readiness and ease.

Left to right: Etro, Bottega Veneta, Etro, Bottega Veneta.

The New Tuxe: These inviting and debonair looks retranslate the tuxedo, creating a metaphor not nearly as staid and stout as a penguin. We're thinking "eligible bachelor."

Left to right: d&g, Moschino, d&g, Alexander McQueen.

Vagabond: The dandy's archenemy was in full effect in Milan. Haphazard, yet still dashing, the new man about town embraces wrinkles and his slightly slouchy trousers and half-buttoned cardigans defy the rigid fop dress code. Keyword: "rakish."


Left to right: Burberry, Moschino, Etro, Burberry.

WTF?: Despite the trails blazed this week to return menswear to real men's bodies, there were several misses. Steer clear of these turkeys. FYI, the sticks and stones thing was a big fat lie. Being pointed and laughed at really hurts.

Left to right: Alexander McQueen, Gucci, Emprio Armani, Roberto Cavalli.

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